The present invention relates to a meter housing and, more particularly, a meter housing including one or more resiliently flexible flaps which maintain the meter housing in abutting relation with a panel having an opening into which the meter housing is installed.
Various means heretofore have been used for mounting a housing for a meter, switch or other component in a panel opening. For example, a rectangular shape snap-in housing has been provided with integrally molded spring clips that extend from the housing side walls in a direction parallel to the direction of insertion of the housing into a panel opening. As the housing is inserted from the front of the panel into a correspondingly sized rectangular panel opening, the clips are engaged by the side edges of the opening and caused to flex inward. When the housing has been fully inserted into the opening by bringing a flange of the housing into contact with the front face of the panel, the clips spring outwardly and abut a rear side of the panel to hold the housing in place. The housings with these spring clips require relatively complicated molds, i.e., the housings cannot be molded in simple two-part molds. In addition, these spring clips cannot tolerate a wide range of panel thicknesses while still providing a tight and secure mounting of the housing in the panel. Also, these spring clips have only been used with rectangular housings.
Another mounting technique has been to use U-shaped clamps which are fastened against the backside of the panel by nuts on threaded posts. This mounting technique can accommodate a wide range of panel thicknesses while providing a tight and secure mounting. Also, the mounting technique can be used with round housings. However, the clamps must be assembled from the rear side of the panel which is not always desirable, and the assembly process is relatively time consuming and tedious relative to a simple snap-in (push-in) mounting technique.
Consequently, a need exists for a housing-panel mounting technique that overcomes one or more of the drawbacks associated with known housing-panel mounting techniques and/or provides one or more advantages heretofore not attainable by known housing-panel mounting techniques.
The present invention provides a snap-in-place housing for a meter or the like. The housing has one or more resilient flaps which flex inwardly to permit insertion into an opening in a panel and then flex outwardly for engaging a rear side of a panel to hold the meter housing to the panel. In contrast to the prior art clips which rotate about an axis generally perpendicular to the insertion direction of the housing, the flaps according to the present invention rotate about an axis generally parallel to the insertion direction. As is preferred, the flap or flaps may include one or more steps on panel abutting edges thereof for accommodating different thickness panels.
The present invention has particular application to round meter housings. According to this aspect of the invention, a meter housing includes a round base portion, a flange (annularly continuous or discontinuous) extending radially outwardly from the round base portion, and at least one resiliently flexible flap extending tangentially from the round base portion. The flap or flaps are free to flex radially inwardly towards the base portion to permit passage of the flap or flaps through an opening in a panel when the base portion is inserted into the panel opening. The flap or flaps have a panel abutting surface that is axially spaced from the flange and at least partially radially coextensive with the flange to define therebetween a slot or gap for receiving a portion of the panel adjacent the panel opening. The slot or gap allows the flap or flaps to return at least partially to their original unflexed condition, positioning the panel abutting surface beneath the panel for engagement with the bottom surface of the panel, thereby holding the housing to the panel.
In a preferred embodiment, the flap or flaps have a stepped edge surface facing the flange, the axial spacing between the tread portion of each step and the flange decreasing going from the radially outermost step to the radially innermost step. The tread portion of each step defines a respective panel abutting surface for abutting the bottom side of the panel. Accordingly, the gaps formed between the respective steps progressively decrease in axial dimension going from the outside to the inside step, thereby allowing for snug capture of panels having different thickness. As a result, the housing can accommodate different panel thicknesses while still tightly holding the housing to the panel.
In a preferred embodiment, the base portion has a radially outer side surface corresponding to the shape of the panel opening into which it is to be inserted. The radially outer side surface is interrupted by one or more recesses for receiving the one or more flaps, respectively. The recesses have a depth sufficient to permit the flap or flaps to flex radially inwardly and within the envelope defined by the radially outer surface of the base portion, thereby enabling passage of the flap or flaps through the panel opening when the base portion is inserted into the panel opening.
In a preferred embodiment, four flaps are provided on a base portion that is circular in cross-section. The flaps are arranged in pairs on diametrically opposite sides of the base portion with the flaps in each pair extending in opposite tangential directions. Preferably the flaps are symmetrically disposed. Also, the flaps of each pair extend from a rib that separates the flap recesses and forms a part of the radially outer side surface of the base portion to assist in guiding and maintaining the housing centrally disposed within the panel opening when inserted therein.
The present invention also has application to meter housings having other than round base portions, including meter housing having rectangular shaped base portions. In this context, the radial direction means a lateral direction transverse to the insertion axis of the meter housing, and tangential means at an angle to a side wall of the base portion which provides for flexing of the resilient flap about an axis generally parallel to the insertion axis of the housing. Thus, according to this more general aspect of the invention, a meter housing includes a base portion having an insertion axis along which the base portion can be inserted into an opening in a panel and an interior space for receiving electrical meter components, a flange (continuous or discontinuous) extending laterally outwardly from the base portion, and at least one resiliently flexible flap extending from the base portion. The flap or flaps are free to flex laterally inwardly about an axis generally parallel to the insertion axis and towards the base portion to permit passage of the flap or flaps through the panel opening when the base portion is inserted into the panel opening. The flap or flaps have a panel abutting surface that is axially spaced from the flange and at least partially laterally coextensive with the flange to define therebetween a slot or gap for receiving a portion of the panel adjacent the panel opening. The slot or gap allows the flap or flaps to return at least partially to their original unflexed condition, positioning the panel abutting surface beneath the panel for engagement with the bottom surface of the panel, thereby holding the housing to the panel.
The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail one or more illustrative embodiments of the invention, such being indicative, however, of but one or a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.